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Holidays, clinics and the end of the world.

Sat here in sunny Cornwall, with a bit of downtime to reflect on the events of 2011 thus far.

Drum clinics are very much still top of mind at the moment; there has been a lot of chatter in the drum forums about the viability and point of drum clinics. It seems many drummers are well and truly turned off the traditional clinic format, whilst newer players are logging on to YouTube in deference to the good old live event.

I've been hugely fortunate to have been party to three of the world's best clinicians this year. Colin Woolway, Steve White, and Craig Blundell, and all within 50 miles of my doorstep. That's pretty amazing, considering how poorly served the South West is perceived to be.

The Whitey/Woolway clinic was organised by myself, in conjunction with Colin Woolway and Drumsense, whereas the Craig Blundell gig was organised and presented by my good friend Clive Davies in support of Help for Heroes.

The underlying message with clinics is this; turn up and check them out. If it's not your thing, you can always go back to the bedroom and YouTube etc.

From my point of view, all I've seen from those who have attended the above clinics is smiles and requests for more, much more. But without the loyal support of drummers and music lovers (and others), these events just don't happen, much like last week's rapture..............

I'll leave you with a couple of YouTube clips, ironically. The first one is a clip of Craig Blundell running through a great little triplet exercise. The second is of Steve White, giving his thoughts on the music industry, succeeding as a drummer, and yes, YouTube itself.